Can someone refer me to a shop or individual who would do a decent job(minor body work) and spray my '69 GTX on a 3-$4,000.00 budget that I have to hold to? Am I way out of line to think someone would do it for this amount? I live approx. 1 hr. north of Detroit. If anyone could help me out I'd really appreciate it in a BIG WAY!! Please p.m. me or call 810-392-3781 Sincerely, Randy Borawski

The guy that painted my camaro was very reasonable in labor price and local.But to say 3-4000 with minor body work whats minor to you maybe magor more detail a few dents ? patches?? rotted wheel well lips??

I was trying to find someone to paint my car for around the amount you are talking. I had no body work-just needed to be primed and blocked out before topcoating. My car is in the paint shop now on a "we'll do it in between collision work" deal. Price? $9,600 for a bright red-no metallic job. Car has vinyl top so no roof paint either and I had it mostly disassembled when I brought it to the guy. VERY HARD to find a deal on paint anymore. -Bob

Maybe you can find a private guy who will let you help. I found a local guy to paint my engine bay. He let me come out to his shop and do all the sanding and prep work. He did a little rust repair and final masking. It was great because I saved some money and I learned some valuable things about body work. Now I can go out and watch/help him work when I want. He charged me $30 per hour which is pretty cheap for a good body guy.

I would love to do it i love to do work like that and i would not charge a arm and a leg i would want the advertisement with somthang like that. You can see my work on www.insanemustangs.com I did the work on the blue mustang under darkhorse or millerperforance is the compony that was only 3500.00 that was all the body work and paintThe car was painted blue with white fad and ghost scallops in purple pearl.

Go to several of your paint supply dealers in your area. Ask them this same question you posted here. There are many of us that did it on the side and Im sure they could set you up. Usually someone that does it on the side will let you prep the car to save some money. Like removing bumpers,chrome,lights,mirrors ect. You could also ask the painters at some shops if they would reccomend someone. I got a lot of my work from friends that only do collision work.

here's how i painted my car for about $50, it's actually very easy and the results are amazing. First off, get a can of tremclad real orange (or what ever color u want) in the can, not spray, yes tremclad, it is a acrylic/enamel paint which is very durable. next prep your car as if was any other paint job, fix all the rust, ect....no need to prime the car since the tremclad allready contains elements which allow it to be painted over bare metal. next, after prepping the car get a small 4" professional FOAM rollers, it's tiny and has one end rounded off, and the other cut straight, and is a very high density foam. u also need a jug of mineral spirits to thin the paint. The thing i really like about this is that there's no mess, no tapeing the whole car, just key areas, and u can do it in your garage, since your not spraying there is virtually no dust in the air, just clean your garage first, also it does'nt really smell at all, dries overnight and it super tough paint. also it you decide to paint the car professionally later, just prep and paint, there's no need to strip the tremclad. i have done this to a few cars, and i can say it works amazing, u just have to be paitient. next u thin the paint with mineral spirits so it just about as thin as water, a little thicker. get out the roller and paint away, don't get the paint shaked when u buy it, enamel is stirred, otherwise you'll have bubbles in the paint for a week!!! after u do 2 coats, wet sand the whole car, then repeat, 2 coats, wetsand, 2 coats wetsand. i painted the charger using a can since your not spraying the car u use all the paint and not spray 50% in the air, use progressivly finer sand paper each time. it's not really that much work, cause u can stop and start any time, u can do just a door, or the hood, ect. do one panel at a time, and don't stop once you start. once your done the final coat, wetsand with about 1000 grit to a totally smooth finish, and then using a high speed polisher i use a buffing bonnet and turtle wax polishing compound. do the whole car with this, and i'm telling u, depending on the amount of time and paitence you have, the results are amazing. laugh if you want, but for $50 ($30 for paint, about $20 for rollers, sand paper, ect...) it really looks good. also you can do these steps overnight, paint one evening and by morning u can wet sand. i have personally done alot of painting, mostly single stage acrylic enamel, and i've sprayed several cars in my garage with really good professional results, just it stinks, it's a real pain to do, easy to make a mistake, messy, and expensive. The tremclad is awesome paint, the "real orange" is an amazing hemi orange, and almost looks like it has some perl in the sun, awesome color right out of the can. I used this technique on my 1974 beetle also, here are the results: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture10.jpgthe car before: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/IM000475.jpganother after pic: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00164.jpghere is a car i sprayed (71 beetle, midnight blue metalic): http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00194.jpghere is the car before (71 beetle): http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture1.jpg

well that's my 2 cents worth, sorry for the long post. i was borred lol i painted the orange beetle in 1999, and it still looks like the day i painted it, the 71 blue beetle i painted in 2000, and built the car for my dad, i used the same paint on my charger, maybe one day i'll spring for a good paint job, prepping is 90% of the work, stripping the car, sanding, ect.....painting is overrated!!! So if you have TIME, then i'd say go for it, the worst that could happen is that it does'nt turn out and your out $50, but if your paitient, and expriement with lets say just the trunk pannel and if you like it do the whole car, if not just get it done by someone else for $4000. i don't know about you guys, but i would rather spend the $4000 on other parts like getting the mechanics sorted out and new chrome, cause when u have really nice paint and crappy bumpers, door handles it just sticks out more.

Quote:here's how i painted my car for about $50, it's actually very easy and the results are amazing. First off, get a can of tremclad real orange (or what ever color u want) in the can, not spray, yes tremclad, it is a acrylic/enamel paint which is very durable. next prep your car as if was any other paint job, fix all the rust, ect....no need to prime the car since the tremclad allready contains elements which allow it to be painted over bare metal. next, after prepping the car get a small 4" professional FOAM rollers, it's tiny and has one end rounded off, and the other cut straight, and is a very high density foam. u also need a jug of mineral spirits to thin the paint. The thing i really like about this is that there's no mess, no tapeing the whole car, just key areas, and u can do it in your garage, since your not spraying there is virtually no dust in the air, just clean your garage first, also it does'nt really smell at all, dries overnight and it super tough paint. also it you decide to paint the car professionally later, just prep and paint, there's no need to strip the tremclad. i have done this to a few cars, and i can say it works amazing, u just have to be paitient. next u thin the paint with mineral spirits so it just about as thin as water, a little thicker. get out the roller and paint away, don't get the paint shaked when u buy it, enamel is stirred, otherwise you'll have bubbles in the paint for a week!!! after u do 2 coats, wet sand the whole car, then repeat, 2 coats, wetsand, 2 coats wetsand. i painted the charger using a can since your not spraying the car u use all the paint and not spray 50% in the air, use progressivly finer sand paper each time. it's not really that much work, cause u can stop and start any time, u can do just a door, or the hood, ect. do one panel at a time, and don't stop once you start. once your done the final coat, wetsand with about 1000 grit to a totally smooth finish, and then using a high speed polisher i use a buffing bonnet and turtle wax polishing compound. do the whole car with this, and i'm telling u, depending on the amount of time and paitence you have, the results are amazing. laugh if you want, but for $50 ($30 for paint, about $20 for rollers, sand paper, ect...) it really looks good. also you can do these steps overnight, paint one evening and by morning u can wet sand. i have personally done alot of painting, mostly single stage acrylic enamel, and i've sprayed several cars in my garage with really good professional results, just it stinks, it's a real pain to do, easy to make a mistake, messy, and expensive. The tremclad is awesome paint, the "real orange" is an amazing hemi orange, and almost looks like it has some perl in the sun, awesome color right out of the can. I used this technique on my 1974 beetle also, here are the results: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture10.jpgthe car before: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/IM000475.jpganother after pic: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00164.jpghere is a car i sprayed (71 beetle, midnight blue metalic): http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00194.jpghere is the car before (71 beetle): http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture1.jpg

well that's my 2 cents worth, sorry for the long post. i was borred lol i painted the orange beetle in 1999, and it still looks like the day i painted it, the 71 blue beetle i painted in 2000, and built the car for my dad, i used the same paint on my charger, maybe one day i'll spring for a good paint job, prepping is 90% of the work, stripping the car, sanding, ect.....painting is overrated!!! So if you have TIME, then i'd say go for it, the worst that could happen is that it does'nt turn out and your out $50, but if your paitient, and expriement with lets say just the trunk pannel and if you like it do the whole car, if not just get it done by someone else for $4000. i don't know about you guys, but i would rather spend the $4000 on other parts like getting the mechanics sorted out and new chrome, cause when u have really nice paint and crappy bumpers, door handles it just sticks out more.

Yes i painted it with a "profesional" high density foam roller. The trick is in how you thin the paint, get it as thin as possible without running, and the paint "self levels" it comes out like glass, wet sanding just makes it better, it all depends on how much time u have. i have sprayed a few cars in my garage with a single stage acrylic enamel and it's a pain, messy, stinks, ect... the tremclad is almost odorless and is really easy to work with. u can paint one day, wetsand the next and immedieatly recoat. once you got all the coats on, just wetsand and buff with a compound, then wax and your good to go. i've done 3 cars this way and the 74 beetle i did 6yrs ago, still looks awesome. the paint is cheap like $30 a gallon, you can get it tinted to any color u like. on the charger i used about 3/4 of a can, when u spray even with a HVLP gun, u still waste about 30% of the paint that just goes in the air. Tremclad is basically rust paint, but it is the new type which is a enamal. i still strip the car of chrome, bumpers, handles, keylocks, basically everything, and then just tape only using tape where i might get paint on something i don't want painted. the paint is tough, like stove paint when it's done, i've spilt gas on it in like really hot weather, and it resists stone chips really well. i had to repaint a fender on the beetle like 2 yrs ago, so i just got a small can of paint 3 yrs later and the color match is exact.

Quote:Yes i painted it with a "profesional" high density foam roller. The trick is in how you thin the paint, get it as thin as possible without running, and the paint "self levels" it comes out like glass, wet sanding just makes it better, it all depends on how much time u have. i have sprayed a few cars in my garage with a single stage acrylic enamel and it's a pain, messy, stinks, ect... the tremclad is almost odorless and is really easy to work with. u can paint one day, wetsand the next and immedieatly recoat. once you got all the coats on, just wetsand and buff with a compound, then wax and your good to go. i've done 3 cars this way and the 74 beetle i did 6yrs ago, still looks awesome. the paint is cheap like $30 a gallon, you can get it tinted to any color u like. on the charger i used about 3/4 of a can, when u spray even with a HVLP gun, u still waste about 30% of the paint that just goes in the air. Tremclad is basically rust paint, but it is the new type which is a enamal. i still strip the car of chrome, bumpers, handles, keylocks, basically everything, and then just tape only using tape where i might get paint on something i don't want painted. the paint is tough, like stove paint when it's done, i've spilt gas on it in like really hot weather, and it resists stone chips really well. i had to repaint a fender on the beetle like 2 yrs ago, so i just got a small can of paint 3 yrs later and the color match is exact.

This is really interesting! I'm thinking about using it on my beater car (90 Honda Civic).. where can this paint be purchased?

i'm up in Canada, here it's called Tremclad, in the US it would be the rustoleum or something like that, it's a rust paint, buffs really nice, but make sure it's the new stuff like a enamal, or acrylic enamal. goes right over anything and does'nt react with any old paint, right over bondo, don't use any primer, just the paint. on a car i used to have i had it professionally painted 4 yrs after i painted it and they put a base/clear on it with no isues. it's really easy to do just be paitient, take your time, test on something first and perfect the tequnique, as a hint if you try it first you paint the surface, and then really lightly "skim" the surface with the weight of the roller only to remove any lines bubbles ect, then just leave it for a minute or two and you'll see it just "self levels" totally flat to glass. then wetsand it really fine, use a spray bottle and keep the paper really wet, finish with a 1000 grit or so and then buff with a random orbit polisher using turtle wax POLISHING compound, NOT the rubbing compound, its' to harsh. it is critical to use the proper roller, it's about 4" wide and about 1 1/2" thick, and really high density white foam. it really works and is much tougher paint than todays single stage or base clear, very hard to scratch, but easy to buff. i get compliments on my paint jobs, and they never believe how i do it.

If that works, I owe you a six pack. And not talking about a top end of a motor. If you can tell us a US equivalent, that would be super. This would be acquired at a paint store, not a department store that sells Rustoleum products correct?

The best black paint job I can remember was done by a friend of mine and his dad back when we were in high school. They painted it with foam brushes, and buffed to a mirror shine.

All through high school he had the best paint job of any of our old hot rods. And they did it under their carport! I have no idea what kind of paint it was, but they put it on with the foam brushes and it did like you said, and self leveled.